The grand opening of the new Igloo distribution facility was held on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013, in Katy. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle )

The grand opening of the new Igloo distribution facility was held on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013, in Katy. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle )

Photo: J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle

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A Yukon cooler is seen at the new Igloo distribution facility on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013, in Katy. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle )

A Yukon cooler is seen at the new Igloo distribution facility on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013, in Katy. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle )

Photo: J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle

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Igloo celebrates new facility, new jobs in Katy

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KATY — Igloo, the cooler company founded on the prairie west of Houston, shows off its new 420,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center this week, while boasting it will add 280 new jobs by year’s end.

The company says a recently installed machine also means all of its hard-sided coolers are now made in the USA (Katy, to be exact).

Igloo was purchased five years ago by an equity fund that felt the cooler market had become overly commoditized. In a company profile by the Chronicle a year and a half ago, CEO Gary Kiedaisch said the new ownership brought new thinking that ignited a sustained growth spurt. On Thursday, Kiedaisch said sales are up 50 percent since the takeover.

“Five years ago, we didn’t need that building,” he said of the new warehouse/distribution center, which brings Igloo’s combined capacity to 1.2 million square feet. “It’s not a substitute warehouse. That’s new capacity.”

You can read about the new facility, and other new developments at Igloo, in the Business section of Friday’s Houston Chronicle. You can also find it here on HoustonChronicle.com.